Biography
Jean-Baptiste de Durfort was the second son of Jacques Henri de Durfort de Duras, duc de Duras, Marshal of France, and Marguerite-Felice de Levis-Ventadour.
With the death of his older brother Jacques-Henri II in September 1697, he became duc de Duras; marquis de Blanquefort; comte de Rauzan; baron de Pujols, de Landrouet, et de Cypressac; seigneur de Chitain, d'Urbize, de Cambert etc. . His father resigned in 1689 and died in 1704.
On 10 June 1702, he took part in the unsuccessful surprise attack on Nijmegen as part of the War of the Spanish Succession. On 30 March 1710, he was made Maréchal de camp and on 31 March, he was appointed Lieutenant-général des Armées du Roi. On 13 May 1731 he was accepted into the Order of the Holy Spirit. In 1733 he passed his titles on to his son Emmanuel-Félicité de Durfort.
During the War of the Polish Succession, he took part in the Siege of Kehl (1733) and the Siege of Philippsburg (1734). In 1741 he was appointed Marshal of France. In 1755 he became Governor of Franche-Comté. In December 1755, the Duchy of Duras was raised to a peerage.
Charles de Bourbon was a French prince du sang and military commander during the struggles over religion and the throne in late 16th century France. A first cousin of King Henry IV of France, he was the son of the Huguenot leader Louis I de Bourbon, prince de Condé and his second wife, Françoise d'Orléans-Longueville. He gave his name to the Hôtel de Soissons after his title Count of Soissons.
The Durfort family is an old French noble family, distinguished in French and English history. It originated as feudal lords of Durfort, Tarn, a village of south-western France.
Guy Aldonce de Durfort, 1st Duke of Lorges, Marshal of France, (1630–1702) fought in the Franco-Dutch War mostly on the Rhine under his uncle Marshal Turenne, but in 1673 he was seconded to the Siege of Maastricht. Back on the Rhine, he fought at Entzheim in 1674, at Turckheim in January 1675, and at Sasbach in July 1675, where Turenne fell. He distinguished himself at the retreat from Sasbach and the ensuing Battle of Altenheim.
Louis Phélypeaux, Marquis of Phélypeaux OOSE COSM, Marquis of Phélypeaux (1667), Comte de Maurepas (1687), Count of Pontchartrain (1699), known as the chancellor de Pontchartrain, was a French politician.
Philippe de Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme (1655–1727) was the grand prior of France in the Order of Malta. Vendôme held senior military positions throughout his life, in various command roles.
Jean-Antoine de Mesmes, comte d'Avaux (1661–1723) was a premier president of the Parlement of Paris and member of the Académie française. As premier president he presided at the rescinding of the will of Louis XIV and in 1720 at the remonstrance against the regent, Philippe of Orléans, for allowing Law's disastrous financial scheme and appointing Guillaume Dubois as archbishop of Cambrai.
Anne de Laval, Princess of Taranto, was a French noblewoman and nominal pretender to the Kingdom of Naples. She was born at Vitré, Ille-et-Vilaine, the daughter of Guy XVI de Laval, count of Laval, and of Charlotte of Aragon, Princess of Taranto.
The House of Amboise was one of the oldest families of the French nobility whose followed filiation dated back to the early twelfth century. It took its name from the town of Amboise in Touraine.
Emmanuel Félicité de Durfort, duc de Duras was a French politician, diplomat, peer, marshal and Freemason.
Pierre Brûlart, Marquis de Sillery, Viscount Puisieux, Baron Grand Pressigny served Louis XIII as joint Minister of Foreign Affairs and War from 1617 to 1626.
Marie Anne d'Orléans, petite-fille de France was a French Princess and youngest daughter of Gaston d'Orléans. She held the rank of Grand daughter of France. She was a member of the House of Orléans.
Margaret of Brabant was Countess of Flanders by marriage. She was the second daughter of Duke John III of Brabant and Mary of Évreux. She was the only child of Duke John to have children. In 1347 she married Louis II of Flanders, who was then sixteen years old and already count of Flanders. On 13 April 1350 their daughter, Margaret III, Countess of Flanders, was baptized. Through this daughter, their only surviving child, Brabant came under the influence of Burgundy when she married Philip the Bold.
Louis-Léon de Brancas, 3rd duc de Lauraguais, 6th duc de Villars, was a French general and author, and a member of the French Academy of Sciences.
Louis-Armand-Constantin de Rohan, Chevalier de Rohan and Prince de Montbazon, was a French naval officer of the eighteenth century.
Alan III de Rohan, was the son of Alan II, Viscount of Rohan. He was the 3rd Viscount of Rohan and Lord of Corlay.
Alan IV de Rohan, called the Young, was the eldest son of Alan III, Viscount of Rohan and Constance of Penthièvre. He was 4th Viscount of Rohan and Lord of Corlay. He took part to the Third Crusade.
Louis Charles d'Albert, 2nd Duke of Luynes, was a French nobleman and peer of France. He was a translator and moralist who was the first translator of the work of René Descartes.
Louis Joseph d'Albert, 3rd Prince of Grimberghen was a French nobleman who was in the service of the Emperor Charles VII, and became field-marshal and Ambassador in France.
Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld, 5th Duke of La Rochefoucauld Due his children being daughters his dukedom was inherited by his cousin Louis Alexandre de La Rochefoucauld due to salic law
Antoine d'Aumont, 1st Duke of Aumont was a French nobleman who was created the 1st Duke of Aumont in 1665 by King Louis XIV who had already created him a Marshal of France in 1651. His dukedom went exrinct in 1888 after the death of the 10th Duke of Aumont Louis Marie Joseph d'Aumont The Duke commissioned the construction and exstention of what became the Hôtel d'Aumont which was painted by Charles Le Brun and gardens designed by André Le Nôtre and in 1938, was purchased by the City of Paris, and restored and classified as a monument historique. Since 1959 the tribunal administratif of Paris has been housed in it. A radical restoration of the decayed framework was completed in 1964.
